Some of the key players in local governments will talk about the climate for women in politics at a free public forum at MTSU.

“Serving the Local Community: Women in Murfreesboro City and Rutherford County Governments,” a panel discussion with five influential local women officials, is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20, in MTSU’s Tom Jackson Building.

Dr. Ayne Cantrell, MTSU professor emerita, will moderate.

The panelists will be Laura Bohling, Rutherford County circuit court clerk; Donna Scott Davenport, Rutherford County juvenile court judge; Joyce Ealy, District 19 Rutherford County commissioner; Madelyn Scales Harris, Murfreesboro City Council member; and Lisa Nolan, Rutherford County finance director.

The women will address how they came to be involved in government, the challenges they face as women in government and what steps women should take to prepare themselves to enter public service.

This event is sponsored by the Murfreesboro branch of the American Association of University Women with grants from the national AAUW Legal Advocacy Campus Outreach Program and the MTSU National Women’s History Month Committee.

For more information, contact Cantrell at acantrell@comcast.net or Barbara Scales, chair of the MTSU National Women’s History Month Committee, at 615-898-2193 or barbara.scales@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)